A bevy of basil...

If there were such a thing as too much basil, then I surely am suffering from it.



I bought a huge bunch at the farmer's market last week, I just couldn't resist, and so this whole week I've been eating basil, cooking with basil, researching how to preserve and store basil... whew! My thumbnails are discolored from pinching leaves off the stems (I didn't realize that would happen, but basil discolors when left to dry or when it's frozen, so I guess it makes sense). After making a huge batch of fresh pesto and still having tons of basil left, here are some of the spiffy storage methods I've found:

Freeze whole basil leaves. Many websites will have you chop the leaves and freeze them in ice cube trays, but alternately you can simply freeze whole leaves: wash and dry the leaves, spread them out on a cookie sheet (or I used those flexible plastic cutting boards), and pop them in the frezer for 10 minutes. When they are stiff, put the leaves into a baggie and keep stored in the freezer. Three days later, my frozen basil leaves have turned darker but I can pluck single leaves out of the bag.

Dry-pack basil in salt. See this website for more info.

Puree 2 cups fresh basil leaves with 1/2 cup olive oil. Pour into a freezer-safe jar or container, leaving 1/2 inch room at the top, and freeze. The recipe I found only called for 1 cup basil with 1/2 cup olive oil, but I found that to be rather runny and more oil-y than basil-y. So I hope my adaptation works! You can use this basil puree later for pesto, or you can stir 2 tablespoons basil puree into 6 tablespoons vinaigrette dressing (or make your own).

Basil vinegar: combine 3/4 cup basil leaves with 1 pint red wine vinegar. Cover and store in the fridge for 2 weeks. Strain basil from vinegar before use.

I also placed leaves on a paper towel and left them on the table for a couple days, until they were dried and breakable. I then put the leaves into a jar. Of course, all herbs lose some intensity of flavor when they are dried, however basil that you dry yourself will still beat anything you buy at the store.

I would say I've got enough basil to last me a while, but if I come across the same deal this week at the farmer's market, I'm probably going to succumb to buying more! How can I resist?!